All Souls Weekly                 
Volume 1, Number 14, May 11, 2008

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From the Rector:  Claiming Pentecostal Gifts

For centuries the Church has taught that there were basically seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, derived from a passage in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. A common listing of the seven includes wisdom (to know what God expects of us and how to move forward), understanding (to be able to discern right from wrong, to hear God), counsel (to know what should be done and how to do it), fortitude (to be strong and filled with the confidence of God), knowledge (to know the Word of God), piety (to be able to put our knowledge into practice and live rightly with God), and fear of the Lord (not so much to be terrified by God, but to be awe-struck by God, to be capable of being awed by God). Each of the seven spirits is so rich that it's no wonder that church tradition has handed them down. They are good gifts to memorize and to meditate upon.